r/Tarkov

I’ve got a buddy that is learning how to play the game. I'm trying to help him as much as I can, but I'm not always able to play with him. I built https://eftchat.vercel.app/ to answer his questions on solo raids. I'm pretty excited about it because I think it works really well so I wanted to share it with the community.

This is really good at answering what items you need to keep or sell and understanding basic mechanics like the health system. I wanted to make sure it could answer questions like "where can i find something to fix a heavy bleed on Customs" and "do I need to keep Salewas?" There’s also the start of a fairly competent “where can I find x item” workflows… it is becoming pretty useful. I’ve been a member in this subreddit for a long time and I think the tool can answer a majority of questions I see posted by new players.

You don't need an account to talk to the site, and I'm not collecting identifying anything about you other than the questions you input to see how well the tool is doing. I'd be so happy if you gave it a shot and shared how well it does for your purpose. I made this myself with cursor and a whole lot of manual review on the output accuracy as someone with over 1000 hours.

This is real early days on this project. I think a natural next step would be to add progression tracking and flea market support. My friend literally just started so I haven’t been pressed to add this functionality yet.

Link to the site: https://eftchat.vercel.app/

So, I'm like 30hrs in, I absolutely love the game. I do find it a bit frustrating to deal with people with 6k hours in Ground Zero a bit more often than I'd like.

The main issue is, I'm in my 30s and I often don't get much time or get it randomly, and I'm in Asia. So if I'm trying to play at odd hours it takes forever to get into a round. And on top of that, the aforementioned issue with 6k hour players treating me like a peach they can squash away. I want to learn more about the game because the atmosphere and mechanics fascinate me. Also I love the gameplay. Every time I'm in a fight with people between 30-200hrs. It's actually fun. Basically people with similar or maybe more experience but not the ones who've spent a decade playing it. I did try the PVE version but the AI seems to be somewhat nuts? I have been seeing a lot of recommendations about Sain AI. And I want to try it out. Just that. No other mods that alter the gameplay. So, I had a few questions.

1. I tweaked the Nvdia settings from the Nvdia app to make it run well - 90-110 fps and I use smooth motion. Will I get to use all that with it the same way?

2. I know there's a performance hit but is it too much?

3. I love the game. And I want to play it. But a bit more comfortably. I want to explore, have the fights. But I also don't want to get steamrolled by someone who knows every inch of the map down to every pixel. And maybe with my limited time, I can get a better grasp of the game with this. But am I going to mess up the experience in any way?

I know the questions might sound stupid. But I want to just be sure

I’ve got almost 0 knowledge of the game and have about 9.5 hours anyone want to run it?

https://preview.redd.it/e8fm8pwidnbh1.png?width=1917&format=png&auto=webp&s=081aea381734077bfd956ad5fe6708f27690db38

Ultralink, not sure what is it for i guess icebreaker

I wanted to know how I could get a Sherpa, because I don't know where these extraction points are, I'm bad at shooters in general, and it's extremely difficult finding proper loot, learning the map, learning to gunfight, learning the entire medical system, while managing storage, the hideout, and still trying to escape within time.

Also, my game ends up always taking 5+ minutes to load in... Is there anyway to lower that?

https://x.com/nikgeneburn/status/1948395724741267830?s=20

The facts are super mega siiiimple. TL:DR:

The Division launched the full modern extraction loop in late 2015 and early 2016.  Tarkov did nott start close alpha until August 2016.

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What the Dark Zone actually delivered at launch

• High-value contaminated loot that you could not just carry out.
• PvE enemies mixed with other players who could go rogue and attack you.
• Extraction points where you fired a flare to call a helicopter.
• A timed defense window (roughly 90 seconds for arrival plus load time) while NPCs and potential ads pushed the zone.
• Permanent loss of the contaminated gear if you died or the extraction failed.
• Safe extraction gaves you persistent rewards in your stash.
• This was live, tested, and played by millions before Tarkov even had an alpha build.

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Timeline proof

December 9 -12, 2015: Closed Alpha on Xbox One. Dark Zone mechanics were in and playable.  

January 28 - February 2, 2016: Closed Beta on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

February 18 - 22, 2016: Open Beta. Over 6.4 million players experienced the flare call, defense, and extraction tension. At this point it's laughably obvious.

March 8, 2016: Full game launch with Dark Zone fully operational.

August 4, 2016: Tarkov closed alpha begins.  

https://escapefromtarkov.fandom.com/wiki/Release\_dates  

Division had extraction running in public tests for months before Tarkov players got their first build.

Contemporary sources that describe the exact loop....

PC Gamer Dark Zone guide, March 11 2016 (days after launch): "Gear you acquire in the Dark Zone can't simply be carried back... call for a chopper by visiting an extraction zone... hold down the F key, which fires a flare. Then you've got 90 seconds to wait for the chopper to arrive... defend your position."  

https://www.pcgamer.com/dark-zone-guide-the-division/

E3 2015 official Dark Zone multiplayer gameplay trailer (shows the contested zone, rogue risk, and extraction setup before any beta).  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feUhNo1CDp8 

Direct statements from later coverage calling it the earliest

IGN Extraction Shooters Explained: "The Division's Dark Zone is the earliest example of an extraction shooter." Describes rogue PvP, top-tier gear, flare extraction, and chopper.  

  https://www.ign.com/articles/extraction-shooters-explained

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Community threads that reached the same conclusion

Resetera thread on extraction looters: Multiple users state the Division Dark Zone was the first or the granddaddy.  

 https://www.resetera.com/threads/when-talking-extraction-looters%E2%80%A6is-the-divisions-%E2%80%98dark-zone%E2%80%99-forgotten-about.788514/

Another Resetera thread: "they literally created this genre with the original dark zone in the first game."  

 https://www.resetera.com/threads/do-you-think-ubisoft-will-expand-the-dark-zone-in-the-division-3-to-be-a-fully-developed-extraction-shooter-mode.1461736/

Reddit threads in r/thedivision and r/EscapefromTarkov regularly surface the same timeline and mechanics comparison.

Leaked alpha footage and beta streams from December 2015 through February 2016 show players calling flares, defending LZs, and losing gear to rogues or death.

The Division was not a pure extraction game. Its Dark Zone still delivers every core pillar of the modern extraction formula first: contested high-value loot zone, PvPvE, flare-called helicopter extraction with defense timer, and real permanent loss risk. Tarkov took that loop, made it the entire game, added deeper hardcore systems, and scaled it. Credit to Battlestate for execution and popularizing the full package. The blueprint and public proof came from Ubisoft's Dark Zone in late 2015.

Dates do not lie...mechanics match pretty much tit for tat. Multiple outlets and players from the time confirm it...so yeah.

Sorry lads, this is random. I'm bored. Don't hate on me lads, I'm just sharing my small frustration on this.

Tarkov is still king. Nikita has a massive...car collection. We'll all be fine.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

Just bought the game, played my first match on ground zero. Fought some Npcs, was being super cautious and filled my inventory up. Found my way to what I thought was the correct way to extraction (using overlay map since I have one monitor) saw a sign that had a picture of a land mine on it, indicating there was traps ahead. I slowly walked and did not notice any. TWO SECONDS LATER BOOM BOOM (dead). The fear I had until extraction to only then die because I have no eye sight is great. 10/10 LOL. I should be scared of myself with how many times I know this will happen.

So, I have been playing for 2 days now, loving it but seem to always have no clue what is going on! I need to learn customs fast and I am aware that there is all these interactive map things that you can look at but I am God awful at using them and don't have a clue where to even begin. what I will say tho is that out of the 3 maps i have unlocked (Ground zeroes, Customs, interchange) the only one i have been able to reliably learn (only extracts, i dont know spawns or loot or anything) is interchange, not sure why, just is. Anyway I was wondering if there is a better way to learn customs QUICK due to my many bad gun buying decisions so im broke and need to survive on customs 3 times to get prapor to buy ammo for the guns i bought, which i cannot otherwise use.

Basically im in a pretty bad situation and this is a desperate cry for help, but i thought it was worth asking due to my last post being answered so well and so quick.

What even is this? 😭

What happend to scavs, i always spawned with scoped big rifles and a revolver, scavs attacked me, so i shot back all the time.

That stopped and my karma dropped, but like no one told me about that shit, so im -0.04 from 0.4